Cascade Loop Road Trip: Day 4

Thursday, July 30, 2026

Day 4

We slept in and ate breakfast at the hotel. We didn’t leave until around 10:30 and got to the trailhead shortly after 11AM. 




Last night, while picking our hike for today, we kept reading words like “difficult” “steep” “buggy” and my least favorite “exposed to the sun - bring plenty of sunscreen and water.”  Many of the options would have required us to get up early before the parking lot fills, hike steep climbs of more than 7 miles, to see a pretty lake. “Wait, isn’t that what we did yesterday, and to a smaller degree, today?” we thought. Instead we went for a hike that was less than five miles long and had key words such as “easy” “mostly shaded” and “loop.”  Together with it being along a creek of running water which should equate to less bugs, we felt like this would be a winner for us today. 










We were right. The trail was pleasant and enjoyable. The smell of sap and sun warmed fir needles surrounded us in the dappled sunlight under the trees. Squirrels and chipmunks kept us company. The gurgling sound of the creek was never far off. And we crossed many bridges along the way. A breeze cooled us as the day warmed up as we hiked. 








By the time we were done with our hike we were overly warm. And hungry. So we went into town, parked for free on the street a few blocks from the main strip, and walked into Gustav’s. It is a building we remembered eating in during our honeymoon. I drank so many glasses of ice water and enjoyed the AC. By the time we had finished our food and it was time to go, I was actually feeling cold. Win!



We walked back out into the sunshine and heat, and did some shopping in the stores that had been closed last night. I found a cute s’more shaped dog toy and got it for Cosmo. 



At this point we decided we weren’t really feeling like drifting down the river. In fact, I was ready for a nap. So we headed back towards the hotel. We made a quick stop at Safeway to pick up some hydrocortisone cream because I have what Bryan described as a “constellation” of bug bites on my back that have been itching me pretty constantly since yesterday morning. 


I slept for a couple hours, carefully not on my back, and was ready to resume regularly scheduled vacationing in the evening.


We decided we didn’t want anything greasy for dinner, so we chose to take a little drive and find a Chipotle.  The familiar, fresh food was just what we needed this evening. 


Then Bryan found us a place called Zully’s that serves “rolled ice cream.”  We were overwhelmed by the options on the board when we walked in. We had to ask some questions, but finally ordered a waffle taco and a small cup of rolled ice cream. They poured the milk and flavorings (mine was coconut milk and Oreo cookies) onto a cold metal disk, then chopped everything fine, mixed it together, spread it out on the metal, and then rolled it up, scraping a layer of ice cream into a cylinder shape. 




Then we were pointed in the direction of the toppings bar. I put some peanuts, Hershey’s chocolate sauce, and sprinkles on mine. 


We enjoyed the novelty of the ice cream preparation. And it was tasty. The texture was better than I expected. And if was fun to make mine into a little sundae. 


We left there and grabbed a couple things we needed at Walmart to be ready for our next couple days camping and feeding ourselves. Tomorrow we head into the Mt Rainier National Park. 


Thanks for tagging along! 

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